Jeremiah 7 - Prayer Tents

Jeremiah Speaks at the Temple

7The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,H1697H3414H3068H5592“Go to the entrance of the Lord’s Temple, and give this message to the people: ‘O Judah, listen to this message from the Lord! Listen to it, all of you who worship here!H5975H8179H3068H1004H7121H1697H559H8085H1697H3068H3063H935H8179H7812H30683This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “‘Even now, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land.H559H3068H6635H430H3478H3190H1870H4611H7931H47254But don’t be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the Lord’s Temple is here. They chant, “The Lord’s Temple is here! The Lord’s Temple is here!”H982H8267H1697H559H1964H3068H1964H3068H1964H30685But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice;H3190H3190H1870H4611H6213H6213H4941H376H74536only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols.H6231H1616H3490H490H8210H5355H1818H4725H3212H310H312H430H74517Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever.H7931H4725H776H5414H1H5704H5769H57698“‘Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie!H982H8267H1697H32769Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours,H1589H7523H5003H7650H8267H6999H1168H1980H310H312H430H304510and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again?H935H5975H6440H1004H7121H8034H559H5337H6213H844111Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the Lord, have spoken!H1004H7121H8034H4631H6530H5869H7200H5002H306812“‘Go now to the place at Shiloh where I once put the Tabernacle that bore my name. See what I did there because of all the wickedness of my people, the Israelites.H3212H4725H7887H7931H8034H7223H7200H6213H6440H7451H5971H347813While you were doing these wicked things, says the Lord, I spoke to you about it repeatedly, but you would not listen. I called out to you, but you refused to answer.H6213H4639H5002H3068H1696H7925H1696H8085H7121H603014So just as I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this Temple that bears my name, this Temple that you trust in for help, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors.H6213H1004H7121H8034H982H4725H5414H1H6213H788715And I will send you out of my sight into exile, just as I did your relatives, the people of Israel

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Judah’s Persistent Idolatry

16“Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, and don’t beg me to help them, for I will not listen to you.H6419H5971H5375H7440H8605H1157H6293H808517Don’t you see what they are doing throughout the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?H7200H6213H5892H3063H2351H338918No wonder I am so angry! Watch how the children gather wood and the fathers build sacrificial fires. See how the women knead dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. And they pour out liquid offerings to their other idol gods!H1121H3950H6086H1H1197H784H802H3888H1217H6213H3561H4446H8064H5258H5262H312H430H370719Am I the one they are hurting?” asks the Lord. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame.”H3707H5002H3068H1322H644020So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I will pour out my terrible fury on this place. Its people, animals, trees, and crops will be consumed by the unquenchable fire of my anger.”H559H136H3069H639H2534H5413H4725H120H929H6086H7704H6529H127H1197H351821This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves!H559H3068H6635H430H3478H5595H5930H2077H398H132022When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them.H1696H1H6680H3117H3318H776H4714H1697H5930H207723This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’H1697H6680H559H8085H6963H430H5971H1980H1870H6680H319024“But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.H8085H5186H241H3212H4156H8307H7451H3820H268H644025From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets—day in and day out.H3117H1H3318H776H4714H3117H7971H5650H5030H3117H7925H797126But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful—even worse than their ancestors.H8085H5186H241H7185H6203H7489H127“Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond.H1696H1697H8085H7121H603028Say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people will not obey the Lord their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips.H559H1471H8085H6963H3068H430H3947H4148H530H6H3772H631029Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the Lord has rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.’H1494H5145H7993H5375H7015H8205H3068H3988H5203H1755H5678

The Valley of Slaughter

30“The people of Judah have sinned before my very eyes,” says the Lord. “They have set up their abominable idols right in the Temple that bears my name, defiling it.H1121H3063H6213H7451H5869H5002H3068H7760H8251H1004H7121H8034H293031They have built pagan shrines at Topheth, the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!H1129H1116H8612H1516H1121H2011H8313H1121H1323H784H6680H5927H382032So beware, for the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when that garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury the bodies in Topheth until there is no more room for them.H3117H935H5002H3068H559H8612H1516H1121H2011H1516H2028H6912H8612H369H472533The bodies of my people will be food for the vultures and wild animals, and no one will be left to scare them away.H5038H5971H3978H5775H8064H929H776H272934I will put an end to the happy singing and laughter in the streets of Jerusalem. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard in the towns of Judah. The land will lie in complete desolation.H7673H5892H3063H2351H3389H6963H8342H6963H8057H6963H2860H6963H3618H776H2723